Google Glass Prescription Lenses will be available in ‘a few weeks’

Google is readying Glass for wide release soon enough, that much we’re sure of. An accelerated hardware rollout and more open development platform are the biggest clues, but they still have some odds and ends to clean up. One of the biggest knocks is how it will be working with prescription lenses. Two frames looks silly, but Rochester Optical has stepped up to bring prescription lenses to Glass — natively.

With Rochester, there is no worrying about getting Glass to work with your frames because they bring your prescription to Google Glass. That’s good news for those who really like the simplicity and style of Glass, and were concerned about just which frames would be on offer for them. Even if you’re not interested in the wearable tech, you have to admit Google really did an amazing job in the design and execution of the Glass hardware, and many would prefer them to their current frames.

Noting the lenses will be available in “a few weeks”, Rochested has asked those interested why they’d upgrade, probably just to know how to best suit consumers for the coming wave of prescription glass wearers. Someone who is really active may not want hard glass lenses from Rochester, as the bottom of the lens is exposed. To that end, Rochester has basic plastic, impact resistant, and high index lens materials on offer. The questionnaire also asks if we’d e interested in the normal customizations we’d get with prescription lenses, like ant-reflective coating or polarization.

There could be subtle changes to the hardware, which would allow the lenses to sit in the frame more securely — and that’s probably a good thing. The snap-in clear and shaded lenses currently bundled with Glass don’t incite confidence in their stability, but that would be necessary for a prescription user. To our mind, these are about as happy a medium as you’ll find when pairing glasses to Glass. Additionally, you can send in a sketch of how you’d like the lens to be shaped, giving a nearly endless array of customization. We’re not sure how these will reach the masses yet, but it seems like they’ll be mail order. We’ll keep you informed as we learn more.